Since a Southern University Board of Supervisors member reportedly wrote an email in December to fellow board members about removing Grambling from the Bayou Classic, it appeared the Tigers' traditional spot in the annual regular season finale has been on the clock.

Then on Wednesday at a regularly scheduled Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District board meeting, WWL reported board member Robert Bruno also questioned Grambling's Bayou Classic future.

"If Grambling has fallen off that bad, maybe Southern could take the lead and it could be an earned-in game and bring in somebody else," Bruno said. "I just don't know if Grambling can carry the load.

The recent rumblings sent Alan Freeman, general manager of the Mercedes‐Benz Superdome, Smoothie King Center and Champions Square, into super-spin mode.

The gist of Freeman's statement was to let the Bayou Classic know it was still being fully supported by its Merecedes-Benz Superdome home with the intent of making it into an even bigger event for New Orleans.

Grambling president Frank Pogue said there have been "no discussions" to change anything with the game.

Well, there should be some brainstorming because the Bayou Classic needs a makeover that should start by moving the game date from the Saturday after Thanksgiving to the season opener.

A re-born trend in college football in recent years is BCS conference teams playing in made-for-TV season openers. The most prominent are the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in Atlanta, the Cowboys Classic in Dallas and AdvoCare Texas Kickoff in Houston.

LSU opened the 2011 and 2013 seasons in the Cowboys Classic, 2010 in the Chick-fil-A and will begin the 2014 season vs. Wisconsin in Houston.

The point of playing these games as season openers not only guarantees a TV audience, but it sells tickets because there's a fresh sense of optimism in the air. Fans wait all summer for the first game, and it's usually easier to get tickets to a neutral site matchup than in a home stadium.

When you play such a game as a regular-season finale, many teams are beatdown from a losing year. They just want the year to end.

And if you have a team like that, such as Grambling's 2-21 record over the last two seasons, why would its fans want to travel to watch that burning wagon finally go over the edge off the cliff?

Here's another problem created by the late date. It prevents the Bayou Classic from scheduling several days of entertaining events leading up to the game.

Last year's Bayou Classic had 15 events over six days, including three events by invitation only. But there was no entertainment, such as concerts and comedy shows.

Contrast the Bayou Classic with the Southern Heritage Classic, which will be played for the 25th time this season between Jackson State and Tennessee State in Memphis' Liberty Bowl Stadium.

This year's 2014 Southern Heritage Classic schedule of events - yes, there is already a well-planned and diversified schedule - features 16 events in four days.

But there are differences why the Southern Heritage Classic has flourished while the Bayou Classic is fading.

First, there's the date of the Southern Heritage Class. It's always played in September when both teams and their fan bases are still optimistic.

More important, the Southern Heritage Classic is superbly promoted by its founder Fred Jones. He works year-round to obtain corporate sponsorship and to create bigger and better events surrounding the game.

This year's Southern Heritage not only has the basic events (parade, battle of the bands, golf tournament) as does the Bayou Classic, but Jones has scheduled concerts on Thursday (Gladys Knight) and Friday, as well as a comedy jam on Friday,

On game day, he has six events scheduled, starting at 8 a.m. leading all the way to the 6 p.m. kickoff.

Jones' hard work and nurturing has built the Southern Heritage Class into a black college football must-see weekend.

The Bayou Classic needs the same injection of enthusiasm, a fresh set of eyes, ears and ideas. Try that first before dumping Grambling.